Mary Gawthorpe and Lady Constance Lytton

Leading Suffragettes Mary Gawthorpe and Lady Constance Lytton arrive in Manchester. The leaders are flanked by two women, probably members of the local Manchester branch of the Women's Social and Political Union, wearing placards announcing a 'Votes for Women' public meeting at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Mary Gawthorpe was a key speaker for the WSPU and it is likely she had arrived in Manchester to speak at the advertised meeting. The same month as this image was taken Elizabeth Wolsternholme Elmy wrote that 'Mary Gawthorpe...is a splendid speaker, full of humour, brilliant and lucid'. Travelling throughout the country delivering speeches took its toll on Mary's voice that became over-strained. Later in 1907 Mary was taken ill with appendicitis and operated on by Louisa Garrett Anderson.